Green Beans

We went to visit my mom and dad today and were able to get a few beans. They only have a small garden but had gotten what they needed. We also got some from my Grandma Betty. From the garden, to the sink, to the jar....
To the pressure cooker.....about 45 minutes later.......
to the sealed jar for storage. Thanks Mom and Grandma for the beans. Next year I will have a much better production but we desperately needed beans this year. Every little bit helps and we were able to get 11 quarts off what we cleaned up today. And THANKS MOM! for teaching me this ageless skill of food preservation. I count my blessings for knowing how to do this every day! You are the greatest Mom!

Another Testament of Christ

I love "Reflections of Christ" and now I am excited to see this video as well. I watched Reflections over and over again. The music is amazing and the pictures.....I can't even put a word to it. My heart and soul are moved each time I see his work. The images come alive for me. Mark Mabry is becoming my favorite photography. I wish I had one of his prints..... Hope you enjoy this tidbit.

Deck staining

After digging numerous slivers out of feet, mostly Matthews, we were in desperate need of sanding and staining our deck. I told Robin his "honey do" list should be non-existant by the time he gets another job. He is working hard on just that, eliminating his to do list. We had picked out a lighter grey stain but it ended up having too much blue tint. Robin picked this darker color for the second coat. It looks great! I think it might get a bit hotter but the deck is shaded most of the day so it's not bad.
It looks so good next to the trim on the house. I love it. Plus- no more slivers. Robin sanded it down really well before staining. I don't think a finish had ever been applied. The weathered grey wood went with the grey of the house but this is so much better on the eyes and feet. Just don't mind the footprints from the garden, it is a deck after all. Honey do list #1- stain deck- CHECK! Thanks babe!

1st day of School

Where did summer go? The nights are getting longer, days are getting cooler- sort of, the leaves are changing and school is back in session! It was nice to hit all the penny sales without the boys, they were home with dad. We spent Wednesday evening packing the backpacks to overflowing with school supplies. Once I had 2 file drawers overflowing with glue sticks, folders, tablets, crayons, markers, scissors, and pencils...oops forgot the pink erasers......Now I onlly have 1 drawer. We bought extras last year and some this year for the unexpected in the middle of the year. Thursday morning they were up early for the 1st day of school, well at least Josh was. Keegan is not much of a morning kid. All went well. Robin was actually glad to be home as he has never been home to send the boys off to the 1st day of school. We had huckleberry pancakes, of course, for breakfast. YUMMY. There is just something about the zing of the huckleberries. You hardly need any syrup.
I am such a multi-tasker that sometimes I get ahead of myself. Trying to take good pictures while the pancakes were cooking left a couple well done but not too bad- oops. Still all the rest were perfect. Keegan was a little nervous but as usual, Josh couldn't wait. I think he was more excited over meeting his friends than anything else but I guess that would be normal.
Tyler gets to start preschool next week. He loves it and has so much fun. Matthew topped the morning off with crying and not feeling well. He had been running a fever and had fever blisters all over in his mouth and lips. Poor little guy was NOT happy. Thankfully no ear infection but we just had to wait it out. Robin and our friend Jeremy gave him a blessing and now he is much better. Even with his sore mouth he enjoyed the fresh pancakes. Our boys would survive anything as long as we have pancake mix- which I am currently running low on. Thank heavens it is coming up on some caselot sales. Our morning went well and before we knew it, it was time to head out for the bus. The boys could have cared less about the pictures mom wanted to take and Matthew figured it was his turn for attention so this is it...... Have fun boys. Remember who you are and what you stand for!
Not too worry, with 3 boys still at home (Robin is the biggest boy of all) I had plenty to keep me busy. Life never ends and just when you get things figured out someone sends you a curve ball....... I'm coming Matthew.....Poor little guy........time for some stories and cuddling!... Ah shucks I can't do the dishes after all...... HONEY!?!

Job Search

After coming home from our fabulous vacation we found ourselves among those hit by the down economy. Robin returned to work for 1 day and at the end of that day was laid off along with 25% of AMET's workforce. UGH! We are currently counting our blessings. #1 I have a good and secure job, the hospital would have to cut DEEEEEP into the nursing staff to cut me. #2 We have built our food storage. #3 I can feed and keep my family clean for less than $100/week. #4 I know how to coupon and do so well. #5 The Lord is aware of our family and our struggles. He is active in our lives for which we see evidence every single day. I am so thankfull for all these blessings and many more.... For now we search, or rather Robin does. He has had success in that there are some openings in his field, however it is a tight job market and I fear we may be in for the long haul. If anyone hears of something please let us know. He is an electronics technician. This is the technical portion of electrical engineering. Keep him in your prayers as well. This is hard on him as he is just not used to being home all day. He said he felt like a square tire that just didn't fit into the daily routine around the house. We are working on that and have made several adjustments to fit our new and TEMPORARY lifestyle.......Once again- focusing on the blessings. Please keep an ear bent for new job openings. I know he will find something and this experience will one day be counted as a blessing until then..................................

Huckleberries!

The last 3 Saturday mornings we have traveled to Kelly Canyon to pick Huckleberries. MMMMHH! Yummy. They were loaded this year. In the end we got 2 1/2 gallons of those precious tangy purple berries. The boys loved the huckleberry pancakes. I usually just freeze them to enjoy through the winter. There is nothing as refreshing as huckleberries in January. For those of you who haven't tasted this little treat, stop by, I might be persuaded to share. My friend got to experience these berries and couldn't get enough. Thanks for the pie Janice!
Today I make a raspberry desert with huckleberries added. The boys are drooling buckets to taste it. Sorry boys, have to wait another hour for it to set up. It has a cream cheese filling- YUMMY!
If you wanted to pick any you'd better hustle. Fall is quickly settling in. The lower bushes leaves are already changing and the berries are ending. There have been LOTS of people picking this year. Yesterday I only got 1/2 gallon and we had to hunt a bit more. You may still find some but not for much longer. We will definantly be enjoying these into the winter.

You know the saying "out of the mouths of babes"? Well while we were picking berries Tyler and I were talking. I told him he was the perfect height cuz he could see under the leaves where the berries were. We talked about the pioneers hunting for berries. Our conversation went something like this:
Ty: I'm a good hibbleberry picker.
M: Yes you are. Look how full your bucket is already.
T: I would be a good pioneer.
M: yes you would.
T: Jesus is proud of me!
M: (chuckling) Yes Tyler! Jesus is proud of you. You are a very good little boy!
How innocent and full of love my little boys are. They fill my life with as much laughter and joy as could have ever imagined!! BOYS!! Ya gotta love them. They are the worlds most unique creatures!

Just another day......

Happy Birthday to me- Yesterday! Not much of a birthday I have to say, but not a bad day either. The whole day was jam packed of day to day routine. I got some great deals at Albertsons and took a friend to teach her how to coupon shop. Then came home to make 10 pies for my work BBQ. The missionaries were here and helped to weed the garden and pull beets which I then had to can. In the meantime Bobbie came over and I helped her with her coupon deals including returning to Albertsons for another trip. That trip took longer than planned due to a lady collapsing. I stopped to help when everyone else didn't know what to do. I stayed until the paramedics got her ready to go to the ER to be checked. Hope she is ok. Then we rushed home. I took a crash 1/2 hour nap then it was off to the BBQ. I was suppose to work- thus the nap that was to last me allllll through the night- but I was put on call- horay. We stayed at the BBQ until 9pm then headed home with tired and wet kiddos. I put Ty and Matthew in the bath, Robin took over and then called my mom back. A couple of minutes into our conversation the hospital calls, yep, had to go into work. I ended up sitting 1:1 with a CRANKY guy who thought he could do more than he really could. I came home to take another 1/2 hour nap then woke to the phone ringing. We had planned on going huckleberry picking but Ty had a sour tummy so I asked Robin to call our freind and cancel. OOPS he forgot. I still wanted berries and Janice wanted to go soooo up I came and went up Kelly Canyon to "our spot". We were up there for about 3 hours- 2 adults and 4 kids. I ended up with a full gallon bucket. They were so thick we hated to leave but I was wanting to be with the rest of my family. I still haven't had a cake but I did get ice cream. Just another day I guess..... Robin has promised a movie (we have passes from the hospital) and Janice offered babysitting for my birthday gift so I have something to look forward to this next week. Oh, and my visiting teachers dropped of chocolate and a card. WHO does NOT like CHOCOLATE!! I think it is every womans sanity saver. I have to have a stash.... So now I am beat! 1hr sleep in 2 days. I think it is time to call it a day- a very very very long day!~!

Family Geneology

So I need everyone's help. I was going to send this on facebook but my mom is now on there too but I don't think she has been to my blog. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I am working on a picture pedigree chart for her for Christmas. I did one last year for my MIL and it was fabulous. Please help me. Here is the link for a family group record sheet.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~texasroots/xothers/FamGrpRecord.pdf
Fill it out, pass it to our family members you are in contact with and get it back to me along with pictures. The picture can be a family picture I can crop or individual ones. When I am all done I will get copies out to everyone of what I have done. I will need them back by October but the sooner the better. It takes a lot longer than I thought but I am getting better at it. Thanks everyone. BTW: leave a comment so I know who has heard about my project. It will help narrow down who I have to contact other ways. Also leave an email address or something to get back to you.
My email is rwjsmj@msn.com.
See the Byington family crest here.... kinda interesting.
http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.fc/qx/byington-family-crest.htm#Byington-Products